Picking Up . . .

After a rather long absence from blogging, I figured it was time to pick it up again. I find myself in a different place now from where I was when I stopped, and I'm hoping that technology can help me to again be the teacher I want to be.

Currently, I'm serving as CHS's Guided Study Hall teacher. You may think it sounds basic and easy, but I'm spending time working on study skills lessons with kids, test taking strategies, improving grades, and helping kids to feel like they're cared about through their educational experience. I teach one, maybe two lessons per week on various topics, but I'm really missing the chance to be creative and pull in tidbits of technology. While much of class is devoted to working on homework, I feel my desire to teach something is diminished by not being able to teach on topics I find interesting. For example, teaching kids about how not to procrastinate coming from one of the worst procrastinators I know was definitely the pot calling the kettle black.

I want to do something to get my fix, but what can I do? Laptops are limited, we don't really have anything to backchannel about, and blogging seems irrelevant at this point with them.
I did create a discussion forum on my website, but they aren't taking it seriously. I get comments about what teachers they hate, and how they "love me . . . XOXOXOXO . . ." but nothing of any real value.

Any suggestions? I am one eager taker!

Screen toast

For my last big project in US history this year, I've created a research assignment where students choose a person that they believe have had the most positive impact on the Us and then create a blog about them. While introducing this project during my last observation, I showed students how to create google web addresses and how to set up their blogs on blogger.com throught the use of videos on screentoaster. It was so easy to make the videos! I found that the students really utilized them when I wasn't immediately available in the computer lab when they were doing their setup, and again when I was gone one day. It was huge!

I really liked how easy it was to create the movies and post them to my website. This summer I'll have to play around with it more!

Spring has sprung

I find myself having an increasingly harder time of remembering to blog lately. The weather may have something to do with that!

I was driving home from school last week and was listening to WCCO on my drive. At this point, I am much younger than their normal demographic, but sometimes I find it really comforting to listen to, as it reminds me of long family drives as a kid or eating pancakes in my grandmother's kitchen while we listened to the crop reports. But I digress. Don Shelby was interviewing Paul Douglas (former weatherman for WCCO) about a new technology venture he's been working on.

Apparently, Douglas not only has created a website that gives personalized weather forecasts, but has teamed up with Conservation Minnesota to produce a series of short videos with "an environmental spin." The site has information on current weather, weather forecasts, and how the environment and weather affect each other.

While this may not be helpful for all lesson plans, if someone wanted to do a lesson that needed information regarding the environment or just wanted to check Minnesota's ever-changing weather, it might be a good site to check out.

The interview article can be found at : http://wcco.com/specialreports/paul.douglas.venture.2.987003.html

And Paul Douglas' joint venture with Conservation Minnesota can be found at: http://www.conservationminnesota.org/

Gcast

After the neat things we learned about at our last mili, I was excited to begin the process of using gcast as part of my curriculum. That is until the email I received last week. Unfortunately, they are ceasing to be a free service due to covering the costs of calls to use the service. You may continue to use gcast's phone podcasting for a fee of $99, and will be limited to 2 hours of recording every 90 days beginning April 1.

I was planning to use this with my students during 4th quarter utilizing their cell phones as part of class. Does anyone know of any other free podcasting options where students can call in their recordings?

Thanks!

Toilet technology

Not to brag, but I was in Japan for spring break--and it was awesome! Some of the interesting technology things I found were:

1. People don't text on their cell phones, they send emails. All the time! Japanese cell phones are awesome, too. Not only do they have the same features as ours, but you can also watch live tv with an extendable antenna on the side of the phone. Wickedly cool.

2. The subways/trains all have tv screens that show you when you will arrive at your station in addition to playing constant advertisements. This in addition to the giant Times Square type tv screens blaring at all the major intersections will have you buying their merchandise when ever possible.

3. Most museums and shrines have you purchase tickets to enter, but only from machines, not people. In addition, there are the famous vending machines everywhere where you can put in the equivalent to $50 and it'll give you change. Pretty cool when you put $100 into the subway ticket machine, only to have it run out of cash and they instantly fill it for you.

4. Finally, the title of this post. The toilet technology. Where else in the world, when your only other option is the squat toilet, can you find a toilet that is priced at over $1000? The fabulous features include: heated seat (awesome when you're at an outdoor park), "music" feature that plays the sound of a toilet flushing so no one else can hear you do your business, a bidet to spray your backside, another spray feature to wash all the naughty bits, and an automatic air freshening sensor that determines what is being deposited and counteracts the odor appropriately! My only question is why is it not automatic flush? All this technology in a piece of porcelain and you still need to push a button to flush? Maybe in next year's model.

Twittering

So with all the recent posts about twitter, I have one question--is it a one trick pony?

I have not yet checked out Twitter (I was literally on the other side of the world during spring break, jetlagged and sleepy all last week, and getting ready for this week's observation) which I know would help me. But seeing as I'm already on Facebook, would I really need to be on Twitter too? Aren't the status updates on FB what Twitter is really all about?

Would someone care to tweet and enlighten me?

Computer therapy

I have not been the best at blogging lately--for some very good, personal reasons. And because of these reasons, I find myself needing to mention some of the awesome things I learned about technology.

First, is that when someone goes through a loss, there are so many places to go to find support. I was able to find blogs, wikis, websites, and videos all devoted to what I was going through. It was terrific to find that there were others with the same emotions I was feeling, and it was amazingly comforting. I was able to be inspired by the words of others, without paying a copay for some awesome therapy.

Secondly, thanks to webmd.com and other reputable medical websites, I could become a well informed patient. Not only could I learn about what to expect when it came to my feelings and symptoms, I also found out about the range of things to expect following surgery and everything else. Although this doesn't sound good for all the hypochondriacs in the world, it is a nice substitute to calling up the doctor and asking a million questions in the middle of the night.

Finally, when you just can't bear to talk to someone in person, and need to convey a message, the Internet provides a way of talking to other family and friends when verbal words fail. I could tell people what was going on, from the comfort of home, and not need to take breaks because of how I was feeling.

I guess technology can function as therapy after all.